the former prident, bill clinton. we'll talk about his global initiative conference that's under way in new york city and a lot more. stand by for that interview tomorrow in "the situation room." thanks for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "john king, usa" starts right now. thanks, wolf. good evening, everyone. the newest sensation in american politics, the tea party senate candidate, christine o'donnell, is making her case to voters in delaware as her supporters complain loudly that she is being held to a different standard than democrats who have said or done controversial things in their past. in o'donnell's case the latest controversy involves a brief dabbling in witchcraft. she is joking about it now but we'll debate whether it's a lasting campaign issue. first, though, a rude awakening of sorts today for president obama. his team thinks the more he can talk directly to average americans about the economy between now and election day, the more he can make the case that things are slowly getting better. in a televised town hall put

together by cnbc, mr. obama heard time and time again for folks who voted for him in 2008 but are frustrated and confused now. here's a sampling. >> i'm an american veteran and i'm one of your middle class americans and, quite frankly, i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted of defending you. >> i want to know is the american dream dead for me? >> i need you to help us understand how you can regain the political center because you're losing the war of soundbites. you're losing the media cycles. >> so what was the lesson for the president and can christine o'donnell overcome the controversies of her past? here 20-to-discuss and debate, republican pollster ed, roland martin, strategist peter fen. if those are people who voted for you and what they think and

that's how they talk to you, he has a tough 43 days. >> absolutely and the people, a number of them, who worked on his campaign are people who are on the road with him, surrogates. i've heard from those very same people telling the white house the exact same thing for the past 8 to 12 months and in many cases folks in the white house not listening. i would think after today the folks will say, wow, maybe those folks have been right. we'd better listen now because we've been, frankly, tone deaf. >> if you're advising him, i know you're in the other party, if you suspend your republicanism and say, mr. president, here is now you need to communicate this, what is he or they doing wrong? >> he is talking about the economy is improving is a mistake like george bush, president bush in the 1992 campaign. basically him saying things are getting better when everyone believes, in fact, it's not, is the kiss of death in terms of tone deaf and disconnect with

others. >> he seems to get that to a degree. john horowicz asked him, do you think this has anything to do with your race, with your ivy league education, you're having trouble breaking through. here's the president. well, let me read what the president said. here is my suspicion. i think when the unemployment rate is high and people are having a tough time, it doesn't matter if i was green or purple, people would still be us fr frustrated. even if he's right there he still has to try. >> listen, i think what we have here is impatience. people are angry as all get out and they're still angry. but the fact is we've had eight months of private sector job growth. we didn't have that when he came into office. you cannot go out and explain to people how great everything is if that's not their perception. part is the famous bill clinton empathy question. do you empathize with people? do you care about them? and then what are you doing? what are the small business jobs programs, and where are you taking the country?

>> but why is he failing or not succeeding at the empathy test? >> it's not impatience, it's arrogance. he gives us a stimulus that was supposed to create jobs. he comes back and says let's do round two. it won't be as big as round one. i hope he goes out and tells everybody why we're going to spend more on a second stimulus package. >> first of all, let's correct something. talking about a stimulus bill, a number of the same republicans saying we don't like it, they did like one-third of that bill that had tax cuts in it. here is another piece. i remember being in columbus, ohio, talking to mayor coleman saying we have to cut our cadet class as a result of budget cuts. that very stimulus bill save that had police cadet class. if you're in the city and you're concerned about your house burning down, you want firefighters, you want teachers, you want police officers. it's also about saving a lot of

those jobs and i would think we want to save those kind of jobs in america. >> the second round for the cities as well. they got a second round that came from the city. >> first of all, i'm stating a fact. don't disagree with the fact. you may not like it but it was a fact. >> and your job has been saved -- you're a teacher and your job has been saved, you're a happy camper. >> there's no question about it. >> i understand the perception, john. >> the truth is what people belie believe. here is what the people believe. by a 20-point margin they believe the stimulus package has not worked, period. he cannot change that perception. the biggest problem the president has had quite frankly, he went about a year too long trying to blame everything on bush and where people are focused today and you see it in verbatims and verbatims, they don't like his solutions. >> hang on one second. i want to you listen to this. the president in making his case today was trying to explain that a lot of these things will take

some time. the question is, do people have the patience? listen how the president says it. >> i think the challenge right now is that i'm thinking about the next generation and there are a lot of folks out there who are thinking about the next election. >> now on the one hand -- on the one hand you can make that argument some of these programs will take three or four years but you risk there, don't you, sounding like i'm smarter than you. >> it's tough. in the context of a campaign with two months left, that is a very tough argument to make. if you look at the numbers which ed does such a good job with, you'll see that they don't trust the republicans at all either. if you do the approve/disapprove and members of congress, there's a 20-point gap there between the republicans and the democrats. >> we're not in charge. >> you broke it. we own it. >> you're right. it's true. >> the real numbers are that for the first time in 20 years republicans match democrats on providing -- doing a better job on jobs. by two points they believe they're doing a better job on

the economy. >> and what has to happen, the president cannot be the only person with this administration going out there. one of the criticisms of him, what's the problem with big business? typically your commerce secretary is out there dealing with businesses. you have to have shaun donovan of hud dealing with housing. the labor secretary, you see summers and those folks more than her. you have to use your entire team versus you carrying the ball the entire time. >> another piece of the equation is that you have the president and his team -- you make a criticism of them there. at the same time up on capitol hill, democrats are using their majority that they still have and they're bringing up in the senate the defense authorization bill which has the repeal of don't ask/don't tell, and also has the dream act, immigration related measure. if you talk to democrats privately they make no bones about the fact maybe we don't have the votes but we will convince the gay rights community we're trying. we will convince the latino

community we're trying. good politics or bad politics? >> it's probably a wash on that. the thing about obama, which i think people like, he's doing the right thing. he believes in it it. he's going to fight for it. >> if he's doing the right thing, why didn't they bring it up six months ago? >> this is the defense appropriations. can't vote against that. >> you have the dream act which is basically a new pathway to citizenship for young adults or just simply join up going to school -- >> or the military. >> they get special in-state rates to go to colleges in those same states at a time when people are struggling. i think they're going to find this offensive. >> look, first of all these politicians, they are paid to do their job. they are not paid to go back and campaign and so you don't want to take a tough vote, you know what, take your butt home and don't run for congress. this is why you were re-elected to make this kind of decision. >> that is fine rhetoric. >> rhetoric is this i'm a voter. >> you're sneaking these bills in because you won't -- [ inaudible ]

let me finish. >> let ed finish and then we'll call a time-out. >> and basically where this is going to be a danger for the democrats is there is a great concern if they lose control of the house, they lose control of the senate, there is going to be a lame duck session that is going to cram through all of these things and all you're doing is telegraphing a message that, yes, in fact, that's all we're going to do. >> to that point, bob menendez did say yesterday on their sunday show that they will do comprehensive immigration reform in the lame duck after the election. a quick time-out. we'll talk about christine o'donnell, whether she's being held to a double standard. there she is there arriving at a candidate's forum. we'll listen to what she says tonight. if she says anything newsworthy we'll bring it to you. i'm ahmed mady and i'm a homebuilder. my father brought me up to give back to society... felicia jackson promised her late sister that she would take care of her children.

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check it out. i can like, see everything that's going on with the car. here's the gas level. i can check on the oil. i can unlock it from anywhere. i've received a signal there was a crash. some guy just cut me off. i'll get an ambulance to you right away. safely connecting you in ways you never thought possible. onstar. live on. you're looking at a live picture of the delaware candidate's forum in middletown, delaware, sponsored by a nonpartisan citizens organization called first state

patriots. among those on hand christine o'donnell, the tea party candidate and now the republican nominee. she gave brief introductory remarks. if she gets up and has any newsworthy remarks we will take you there immediately. we have our group on hand and this is what is being talked about all across the country. let's listen first. this is christine o'donnell on the "bill maher show" saying when she was younger she dabbled. >> i dabbled into witchcraft. i never joined but i did. >> you were a witch? >> i didn't join a covant. >> i was a witch. >> that's exactly why. i dabbled in witchcraft. i hung around people who were doing these things. >> having fun? >> i'm not making this stuff up. >> we get the picture. she hung around people who were doing these things. that's in 1999. so yesterday she had a campaign event and of course everyone's looking, as we do, the youtube

age you go back and find everything you can. yesterday at a campaign event reporters wanted to hear about this. here is what christine o'donnell told her supporters. >> that witchcraft comment on "bill maher," i was in high school. how many of you hung out with questionable folks in high school? but, no, there's been no witchcraft since. if there was, karl rove would be a supporter now. >> she has a sense of humor there. she says she would have hocus pocused karl rove into a big supporter. this is funny but we've all said or done funny things in our past. is it relevant? >> that's what we're going to find out. i mean, one of of the interesting things here is she was elected not because of this. she was elected or nominated to run based on the issue she was talking about. she raised $750,000 on the

internet the first day. she has raised almost $2 million since the primary day. she is going to have her opportunity to tell her story the way she wants to and not the way it's being played here. who knows what's going to happen this is an election. the one thing i do see happening out there and this could be good. this could be bad, but this is the democrats 2006. in 2006 no matter what we said, nothing worked. i see that happening with the democrats. >> you were involved up there with mike cassel. >> correct. >> the republican who had won 12 times statewide over his career, she beat him. what's in the water? >> these are the type of things that actually helped her in the primary and nationally in this election. she'll raise a lot of money. people see the insiders, the man, coming after her, creating her as a victim to some extent and they want to defend her. she'll raise more money because they're attacking her like this. i think people think it's a silly issue and i think actually it's a winner for her at the end of the day. >> i want to you listen to your close friend rush limbaugh. >> we hang out. >> rush was on the radio today

saying, wait a minute. all these people going after christine o'donnell. look in their past. >> joe biden has dabbled in plagiarism. big ayers has dabld in domestic terrorism. valerie jarrett, obama's best female friend, has dabbled in communism. >> and sarah palin also tweeted this, telling christine o'donnell time is limited. use it to connect with local voters versus appeasing the national media. >> she had three events, right. she had to go to church, to a picnic, but oh, she couldn't come on the major news shows on sunday. she is going to duck just like a lot of the other folks. look, my point on this, it is not your mother's republican party anymore when you're nominating these kinds of folks. i hate to tell you. >> the democratic senatorial committee is on the air in delaware. >> first of all, john, as an

evangelical, i'm amazed tony perkins has not sent a press release out criticizing her and her witchcraft. trust me, if that was a democratic candidate it would be a huge story. at the end of the day this will be driven by the question of economics. what this does for her, it keeps her on the front page. it keeps us talking about her. we're talking more about her than her democratic opponent. and so that's really how it plays. but she is going to get hit if she does not answer significant questions in real news forums. even sarah palin said go on fox news. she didn't ditch them. >> we'll see. i'm not sure there's not something different this year. the people are not happy about sending people in controversial elections. >> the question is that these voters just say, you know, we're going to go against the establishment. we're going to go against washington, whatever you guys say on these big news networks, tough, we don't like it. i still say if the woman was sued by her college, didn't pay

her taxes, what qualifies her to be a united states senator? >> she is not one of them. >> i understand. >> bottom line the voters of delaware will devote that. >> a quick time-out. in 43 days we'll have your back. it's a fun campaign. up next, what does former president carter claim he and the tea party have in common?

president obama is in pennsylvania right now trying to help democratic u.s. senate

candidate joe sestak. the president ordered four philly cheese steaks. he gave the clerk a dollar and an aide paid the rest. former president bill clinton had some advice about the islamic center and mosque in new york city. >> much, maybe even most of the controversy of this decision, could have been avoided and perhaps still can be. if the people who want to build the center were to simply say we are dedicating this center to all the muslims who were killed on 9/11. >> easy for a former president to say, but for democrats and republicans in congress a touchy issue. republicans don't want to be seen as extremists, i think, and democrats don't want to be seen as sympathizers. >> before he ran for office he was a political strategist. i think president clinton there

was trying to say, hey, listen to me, maybe i can give you a way out. another former president in the news, jimmy carter wrote a book, giving interviews including he'll be on "larry king" tonight. you should watch it. on the. >> todd: show jimmy carter suggested, watch how i got elected. look at the tea party now. jimmy carter see as comparison. i want to break some of it down. >> the dissatisfaction of the government when i was elected right after watergate, right after vietnam, right after the assassination of president kennedy and martin luther king jr. i rode a wave of dissatisfaction in order to get into the white house. i think the tea party is taking advantage of that now. >> interesting take from president carter. i guess it depends on your definition of right after. jimmy carter was elected in 1976. he said right after the assassination of president kennedy. that was in 1963. right after the assassination of

martin luther king injure why are in 1968. he's stretching the years. >> it's all relative depending on how much you've seen. >> that was the tod"today" show. a lot more to go. we have a big interview when we come back, too. lisa murkowski is the republican senator from alaska. she lost the primary but she is running as a write-in against joe miller. she says he's too radical. mr. miller makes his case. also tonight is the president facing exhaustive expectations from his own support eers? kathleen parker and eliot spitzer here to help us break down the president and you knew this was coming, pete dominick out on the street tonight. what does he want to talk about? hocus pocus. ege ege but never finished... to late bloomers... full-time moms... and everyone who is good at something but wants to be great. welcome to kaplan university. the university that's changing the face of education... to undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees... degrees that can give you a leg up... in a tough job market... in any job market... welcome. welcome to kaplan university.

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it's been an interesting few days for joe miller in alaska. all of a sudden he's just one of two republicans in alaska's three-way senate race. he joins us now to go one-on-one. mr. miller, let's start with that, the new development. the woman you defeated in the primary, lisa murkowski who is still in the united states senate, has decided now to mount a write-in campaign and acknowledges that is a very tough sledding. but, i want to you listen to her on cnn where she said she believes she is in the mainstream of what alaska wants and you are not. >> joe miller simply does not represent that.

he is suggesting to us, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many, many alaskans said some radical things, dump social security, no more medicare, let's get rid of the department of education, elimination of all earmarks. he is, he has taken an approach that is just plain and simple more radical than where the people of the state of alaska are. how lo would you answer that, sir? >> we've had a number come behind this campaign in the days following that and more after she announced her write-in campaign which contradicted the word she gave just a few days before the primary that she would support the victor of the republican primary. what we reflect in our message is something all alaskans are embracing, something much broader than the republican party.

this is something much broader. it has come since americans and alaskans recognize that the system is broken and, in fact, the senator murkowski represents why it's broke. it's that type of thinking that, put your head in the sand, ignore the problems. things will just continue the way they've always been. this will drive this country into bankruptcy. >> we talked about this last time you were on the program and my job is just to let you air it out and let the people of alaska decide. i want to go through the issues she mentioned. she said, quote, no more medicare. is she right? >> this is yet another misconstruction of her position. she tried to do that from the beginning of the campaign. what we said consistently, i think i told you the last time i was on your program that my parents are dependent on medicare. it is critical we regain fiscal

sanity in this nation. pretending the problems she helped create go away and be neutral looking saying, look, we have to do something where i, joe miller, when i put money into social security, the government doesn't take that money and steals it for something else. that's not the right way to go and it's ignoring the fact that the system is broken. so we have to come up with new solutions. saying anything else is lying to the people of alaska and this nation. >> one of the questions people have for some of the tea party candidates who have taken provocative positions in the campaign, what happens when you're one of a hundred? what if joe miller comes to washington and says i would like to eliminate the department of education? i think that money should go back to the states and they should spend it, we don't need a big federal bureaucracy. what happens if europe in the republican caucus and there are 48 or 52 of you and your republican colleagues say, sorry, we don't want to do that? >> i don't think they're going

to say, sorry, we don't want to do that. they're saying a real concern about where we're at as a nation and that concern is expressed in the idea, look, the states are bettory do these things than the nation. it's not an issue of the department of education with getting rid of education. it's an issue as to who spends the money and who controls how that money is spent and the states are in a much better position to do that. historically education has been controlled at the local and state level. the feds have, of course, caused this to be a national thing where the special interests get entrenched and they decide to spend money in a way they see fit. they don't educate our children. it's a question of power. murkowski wants power at the federal level. i want power at the state level. >> you used the term special interests. she says you came from out of nowhere and beat her with the help of what she would consider to be an outside special interest, the tea party express, a political organization based in california. it is run and heavily influenced

by a veteran republican strategist. they gave $600,000 and said if it gets close they are more than willing to come back in and spend more to help you. do you welcome that or do you want people whose money is outside the state to stay outside the state? >> well, first, i want to state to you how hypocritical that is. senator murkowski received 78% of funding from out of state. and then after she breaks her word and decides to do the write-in candidacy on the saturday following, just this past saturday, she goes to d.c. and meets with a bunch of lobbyists to try to bring more out-of-state money into her campaign. so if anybody thinks this is joe miller, the out-of-state guy against murkowski, the in-state gal, think again. there's a way lopsided amount of money coming into her campaign from lobbyists and special interests. the thing you have to realize, the people that are supporting this campaign, they have no vested interest except to see this nation saved.

this not about some sort of industry or teachers group or labor union. they're saying i want to give you money so you vote my way. the system is broken. we want it changed and we see that joe mill certificaer is mos in that direction. resource development, getting the federal government out of our backyard so we can have an economy that's not dependent on a government that's going broke. >> you're in a debate with lisa murkowski, republican. you're getting attention. i want to you listen to the take of the former democratic president, bill clinton. >> the gentleman who beat senator murkowski in alaska, as i understand it, said he thought unemployment compensation was unconstitutional. putting 10 million more people in bread lines is not my idea of bringing the budget back. >> you have said you believe extending unemployment benefits and federal unemployment b

benefits is unconstitutional. >> the democratic party and even the votes murkowski voted in support of is not the answer to putting people back to work. as long as the federal government stays on the back of the american worker by too much regulation, by creating an anti-competitive atmosphere, by taxation, we are going to maintain the unemployment benefits so workers can continue to be where they need to be but long term there has to be a transition there, too. we have to transition that control. again, who spent the money? the state as opposed to the federal government. that is a state function. it's a better function for the states to maintain than at the federal level. you have to remember, why are we at this point anyway talking about expanding unemployment compensation for a much longer period than had been done in the past. the reason why is this federal government has kept down the american worker, has kept down the american economy whether it's by obama care, whether it's that 1099 requirement, whether it's by taxation.

the party of bill clinton is the problem. of course it's wider than that as well but they are a major problem in keeping us in a position where we're entering into a double dip recession rather than growing our way out of this economy that is very much in a downturn right now. >> joe miller is the republican nominee for senate in alaska now facing a write-in from the democrat in that race, too. sir, we appreciate your time. we'll check back in in the days ahead. >> thank you, john. >> thank you. the president attends a town hall and gets put on the defensive by voters who say they supported him back in 2008. the new newest members kathleen parker and eliot spitzer join me next. and fold with one hand. you could switch for up to 600 highway miles on a single tank of gas. or the hundred-thousand mile powertrain warranty. over a thousand people a day are switching to chevy. they're not just trading in, they're trading up. get 1.9% apr financing for 60 months on a 2011 traverse

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the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we could achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. it's been a long time coming. but tonight because of what we did on this day in this election at this defining moment, change has come to america. >> that was election night 2008. lofty rhetoric from the candidate who just made history. this was the town hall today, 20 months to the day since he took office. >> i'm an american veteran and i'm one of your middle class americans and, quite frankly, i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration.

defending the mantle of change that i voted for and deeply disappointed with where we are now. >> so what happened? joining me are the two newest members of the best political team on television. kathleen parker and former governor he wieliot spitzer, th new program. parker/spitzer debuts in two weeks. kathleen, to you first, you talk about solving the rid am of the sphinx. what happened to the guy who had the midas touch to where he had this town hall today he was getting battered by people who said they supported him? >> yeah, well, i'm afraid that he touched too much and it didn't turn to gold. this time obama has gone too far with too many programs too fast and the american people feel overwhelmed and that lady spoke for many. i think even those who voted for him are now exhausted and trying to defend him and find a place to land that they can be in favor of his agenda. it just hasn't worked so far. >> you know, john, let me defend

the president if i might, and i don't do this as a partisan, as a democrat, but somebody who has take ann look at those presidents who have been transformational whether it is fdr, whether it is lyndon johnson, whoever it may have been, it takes time. campaigns are truncated. they're a number of months. you get the emotion and the excitement and it's a wonderful thing to be part of or to vote for a candidate who brings all of this with him or her but it takes time to turn. the message of the president by the arc of history is a long arc. and it takes time for things to get to where we want in the debate. the public needs patience right now and the president is going to get that. >> well, it does take time but every president has had to deal with that arc and he has -- he has bitten off more than he could chew to put it quite simply. i don't think the american people expected to have hope and change institutionalized right away. >> he was dealt a hand which was worse than any president since president roosevelt who came in in the midst of the great

depression and president obama has mustered all the tools, all the energy. i've been critical of him as well in certain respects. i don't think he's done enough. he should have done less, misses the magnitude of what was going on in our society and the depth of the anger and the frustration and the degree to which we need change. >> if he has such enormous -- if he has such enormous communication skills, doesn't he, though, have a responsibility to help people along the arc, to show them that, yes, this is a long-range problem. that's the disconnect. the president's answer was, we passed credit card reforms. she said she didn't have a credit card. he went on to talk about another program. it's problematic in saying we'll get there eventually. there's not a personal connection like he had in the campaign. >> john, you are exactly right. the failure has been first and foremost one of communication. he has not been emotive.

he has not been emotional enough. i think the part of this is he has become antiseptic and worried about particular programs rather that be seeing the pain. look back to bill clinton when he said i feel your pain, people believed it. when barack obama says it, people don't necessarily believe it. so clearly there's been a disconnect there and he has to work on it. that is a smaller concern than being wrong on substance. >> almost 10% unemployment in the country. it's about 10% in some states. 8% in others. we're 43 days away from a big election. colin powell was on "meet the press" and he tried to identify what he sees as the president's biggest problem. >> some of the anxiety and anger that you see out there i think comes from belief on the part of the american people whether it's correct or incorrect and the white house would say it's incorrect that not enough attention, his singular focus should be on employment. >> that reinforces your point, that he took a bit too many apples at once, if you will. >> colin powell said he had just taken -- exact ly.

those were the words he used, he had taken on too many programs. barack obama has the support of independents going into the election. they put him in office. even they are going the other direction now, 2-1, those who are expected to vote will vote for the republican candidate over the democrat. so barack obama has -- he is a wonderful communicator if he believes in what he's communicating and i wonder sometimes if he's really as enthusiastic about what he's trying to do as he wanted us to believe in the beginning. >> the problem here, john, is one of expectation and i think all politicians can fall into this trap on the cusp of a big election. you say, my goodness, we're going to win big. they're going to change society. he did believe it but if you look at the unemployment rate numbers which is really what is driving this. unemployment equals numbers and everybody understands that. when he was told by tim geithner and larry summers, don't worry. unemployment will peak at 8%, my goodness, the president was

simply sold a bad bill of goods by his most senior advisers and now he's trying to work his way back from that and it's a very difficult thing to do. he's doing the best that he can. and it's tough. >> i didn't know elliott was working for the white house. part of the problem, i think -- >> i've been critical of some of the folks in that white house. >> it comes down to trust, i think, as well. once you say something, once you make a promise and then you failed to keep it it, there's nothing wrong with saying up front, look, there's no dishonor in saying i can't fix the problems quickly. stay with me. it's going to be a long plod. instead they promised the stimulus would result in 8% unemployment and we see that's not the case and so over time trust erodes. >> i think this is the issue, too many apples, president clinton was brilliant and didn't deal with health care and then foreign policy and the middle

east and the olympics and a beer summit. all these other things and health care. all these things that distract. >> not to mention attacking people who aren't even part of the hill going after rush limbaugh. he is an influential radio host but he's not part of the party to the extent the president has suggested that he is. >> maybe the message -- >> these people are influential. the white house doesn't need to get involved in that. >> that was a bad trip. can the president multitask? >> apparently not. >> maybe ep should be able to. maybe the problem is that we, the public, need to cut him some sla slack. >> eliot spitzer -- i like it. i like it. it's a good little taste of the flavor. we'll do it again before you get started. he wi he will kathleen parker, thank you. the 2010 version of the contract with america.

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welcome back. let's check in with the latest political news you need to know

now. hi, joe. both president obama and vice president biden use add foo line today but both said it off camera addressing democratic complaints the administration almighty. compare us to the alternative. a group in washington filed a formal complaint against christine o'donnell today saying she spent campaign funds illegally on personal experiences and o'donnell campaign spokesman calls the complaint frivolous. french first lady flatly denies a new book story that michelle obama told her living in the white house is hell. >> of course, michelle obama never said such a thing. i'm happy to tell you very frankly that this is not an authorized book. >> so john, honestly, you know, right. i don't know if she said it.

>> there you go. >> there you go. >> thank you very much. >> see? yeah. >> and with the flattering picture. >> carla bruni said it was not true. too late. that's fun. >> never mind. >> never mind. >> not the first occupant of the white house to say something like this. >> i'm tempted to just continue talking about carla bruni. >> waiting for that. without the pictures. >> i know better. >> good for you. >> let's move on. >> it's okay. >> the house republicans on thursday will unveil their new proposal to the american voters to try to convince people we are not just the party of no. here are the things we'll do. we don't know what they'll call it but what will be in it? >> we have a general idea. nothing is going to surprise you and surprise any of the viewers. it is about jobs, spending and health care. and along the lines of what they have been arguing on all of those issues to date. this is i think the big -- we had a big ceremony in 1994 and this big hoopla, a lot of

dramatic pomp and circumstance. this is the check the box event to see on thursday. >> more low key. >> check the box. check the box because they promised they would not just be against democrats but offer something for the voters and do this as quickly and dirty way as they can because they want to talk about what's wrong with the democrats more. >> they don't want to nationalize the election anymore than they already have. it's about barack obama. it's not about these particular issues. they feel they have a great issue sad as it is to run against stimulus, health care, energy policy. by the way, why tie all of your candidates to the establishment in washington which is why they're not having the big posing picture. >> a small, small group. >> you don't have to sign. and that's very interesting this time. last time they had to sign. the other thing i'm hearing is they're not going to be so many specifics in there.

they don't want to be tied in and locked down into this because they think they're doing pretty well right now and the more specific you are, the easier target you are. >> risky late in the campaign. if you don't come, candidates asked at the events in michigan and ohio and everywhere else. >> it's hard to imagine, again, holding a specific close to their vest but hard to imagine they won't say of course i support that. protect -- >> for spending? >> tax cuts. repeal the president's health care plan and also there's going to be some issues in there to do with reforming the way congress works. >> so occasionally i make the point that the politicians think we are all stupid. >> occasionally they're right. >> might be right. here's an ad the democratic senatorial campaign ad is running against christine o'donne o'donnell, the tea party stunning upset victory in delaware last week. let's play it and then talk

about it. >> here's what we know. she'll fit right in this washington. o'donnell spends money she doesn't have. >> the democrats who have been in charge of the senate since 2007, they have had a democratic president for 20 months now, 20 months today, i guess qualified to say she spends money she doesn't have. hello! >> is that the definition of chutzpah, i think? >> they love to run aens outsiders. ronald reagan ran as an outsider against washington incumbent president. you know? second term. so, yeah. it's -- anything they can do. the other thing is anything they can do to change the subject democrats think is good right now. >> beyond the specifics of that, which i think chutzpah is the best word for that is a question of we've been talking about this before. the question of whether anything the democrats put up, especially negative ad will have any affect. you talked -- >> running for governor said

that. go as the republican pollsters. they said the democrats this year could be the very same spot republicans were in 2006 no matter how good they campaign and follow the play book. doesn't work. >> we'll see. >> already baked. let's put it this way. >> we'll see if it is. thank you. are you embarrassed? of course you are. by anything you did in high school. pete on the street's asking the question. he's up next. ce, not getting swindled. um...where are we? don't just think about it. put lendingtree to the test. get the best deal, or $1,000.

rick's list prime time a couple of minutes away. let's check in with rick sanchez for a preview. >> sinatra sang about it, witchcraft. who makes the list you don't want to be on on this night? we'll have that for you. john, back to you. >> rick mentioned witchcraft. admit it, we all did something in high school we don't want to come out now. what did you do? pete dominic on the street finding out. >> witchcraft growing up? never. >> never? >> never. >> really? >> i mooned somebody. >> you mooned somebody?

>> not a big deal of witchcraft and worshipped satan for a night at the altar, right? >> that's sexy. >> a bonding spell once. >> never admit to anything. >> my mom's a gypsy. might be. >> this guy's mom's a gypsy. >> steal horses back in my country. >> do you annoy people? bother people? >> yeah. >> right. what did you do? >> oh. >> give me something. come on. >> no way. >> this guy's a wimp. >> you know, i'm so old i can't remember. >> really? come on. >> seriously. >> are you a wish? >> sometimes. >> oh dear. did you ever ride a broom? >> no. >> cast a spell? >> yes. >> yes. found her! >> this is the one. >> throw things off a bridge? >> water balloons. >> off a bridge. >> should be like all the other politicians. aren't they all a little -- >> could you give me hair? go ahead. >> i'm working on it. it's going to take 48 hours. >>